Malaysia receives thousands of visitors every day. Some come looking for jobs while others are travelers yearning to enjoy our sunny beaches and delicious food.

But this article is not about jobseekers or tourists.

It is about two men.

About a month ago, Malaysia welcomed someone from a country formerly known as Rhodesia. He was treated very well and afforded all the luxuries and hospitality Wisma Putra could possibly provide.

This man, who so easily entered Malaysia, has a European Union travel ban against him name.

When this man appeared at a food summit in Rome in 2008, Mark Malloch Brown, the British Foreign Office minister for Africa, Asia and the UN commented that this was “like Pol Pot going to a human rights conference.”

The Australian foreign minister, Stephen Smith, said that the man’s attendance at the food summit was obscene because "This is a person who has presided over the starvation of his people."

In 2006, the African Union's Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights released a report which expressed concern over “the continuing violations and the deterioration of the human rights situation” and “the number of internally displaced persons and the violations of fundamental individual and collective rights resulting from the forced evictions” that was being carried out by the government led by this man.

Three years ago the Queen of England stripped this man of his honorary knighthood which was awarded to him in 1994.

Without mincing his words, a British Foreign Office spokesman said that the action had been taken "as a mark of revulsion at the abuse of human rights and abject disregard for the democratic process” in the country over which this man presided.

The man being referred to is Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. He visited Malaysia last month to attend the Ninth Langkawi International Dialogue as an invitee of the government.

Much of the world chides him. Thousands of his people have died of starvation because of his policies. Hundreds of his political opponents have been savagely beaten and tortured by the state.

Yet, Malaysia welcomes him.

Last week, the former General Secretary of the International Federation for Human Rights visited Malaysia.

This man has been very active in initiating legal proceedings in France against former Serbian or Rwandan leaders suspected of crimes against humanity and crimes of war.

He acts for Franco-Chilean families who were victims of the former dictator Augusto Pinochet. He also defends several French prisoners detained in Guantanamo.

The man also founded Sherpa, a non-profit organization dedicated to protecting and defending victims of economic crimes.

In 2009, Sherpa along with other non-profit organizations lodged a complaint in France against Dalhoff, Larsen and Horneman (DLH), one of the world's leading international timber wholesalers.

It is alleged that during the civil war in Liberia from 2000-2003, DLH brought timber from Liberian companies that provided support to Charles Taylor's brutal regime.

According to the claimants, by importing timber from forest concessions operated by corrupt Liberian companies, the French arm of DLH is guilty of handling and profiting from goods obtained illegally which is punishable under French criminal law.

The man being referred to is French human rights lawyer William Bourdon.

He arrived in Malaysia last week at the invitation of local human rights group Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) to attend three fund-raising dinners. After the first dinner in Penang, Bourdon was detained by the authorities on his return to Kuala Lumpur and then unceremoniously deported.

Bourdon is in fact engaged by SUARAM to represent them in a case pending at the French courts concerning alleged financial kickbacks received by top government officials both in France and Malaysia over the purchase of the Scorpene submarines.

The Mugabe and Bourdon incidents raise grave concerns about the Malaysian foreign and immigration policies.

How can it be possible that we welcome an undisputed, evil despot but kick out a human rights campaigner who at the end of the day is merely advocating the stand of a local organization trying to have their day in the French courts?

I guess it all comes back to something I have written about before.

We don’t like it when it is about us.

March and rally all you like if it is against Israel or America. But it is not alright to march when it concerns local issues like free and fair elections.

Welcome to Malaysia if you don’t criticize us, doesn’t matter about what you do elsewhere.

Get out if you are here to talk about the possible shortcomings of those in government.

Only time will tell if Bourdon and SUARAM succeed in proving their case. But one thing is for sure. Robert Mugabe is no hero and if there is one person in this world that does not deserve to enter this land, it would be him.

Tuesday, 26 July 2011

We thought having APCO, parent of the One Israel concept and later the 1Malaysia concept was bad enough.

It was a huge waste of public money - spent on enhancing a political party's image.

Now it looks like BN has hired pro-Israeli bloggers for Malaysia Matters - a website to promote BN leaders.

Armstrong, who is also a professional 'blogger for hire', has made no secret of the fact that the project was commissioned by the Malaysian government - he lists them as a client on the website of his company WebStrong.

Monday, 25 July 2011

This is an interesting, must-read article from The Economist because the print version was censored by the government:

MALAYSIA is one of South-East Asia’s stabler nations; but a rally in Kuala Lumpur on July 9th in demand of electoral reform turned surprisingly nasty, leading to the arrest of more than 1,600 people. The police fired tear gas and water cannon into the crowd, and one man died of a heart attack.

All those arrested were released fairly quickly, but Amnesty International, a London-based human-rights group, called it “the worst campaign of repression in the country for years”. The government’s reaction showed a lot of nervousness about how much opposition it can tolerate.

A while back, the Far Eastern Economic Review was banned in Malaysia by Dr Mahathir for less-than-flattering comments about his administration.

The Economist probably fears the same eventuality.

A spokesman for The Economist said: “I can confirm that any apparent censorship of The Economist in Malaysia last week was not of our own doing. However we won't be commenting on the matter any further.”

Sunday, 24 July 2011

I just got back from the candlelight vigil in solidarity with the Parti Sosialis Malaysia activists who are being held under the emergency ordinance for "waging war against the King".

It wasn't a great turn-out, perhaps because it has been held almost every day to demand the release of these activists.

About 70 people showed up including those standing around the sides. It could have been better.

Of course, the cops had to show up as well, but they only stood along the sidelines and didn't rush the crowd.

People took turns to share their opinions and to encourage each other in the fight for justice and to end oppression. The PSM 6 are being bullied by the authorities and are kept as an example to those who dare defy them.

But we will not bow to this sort of pressure. This is even more reason for us to demand the release of our fellow comrades.

We need you to stand with us - from the oldest to the youngest.

This kid will know the meaning of democracy when she grows up, unlike the millions of apathetic Malaysians making an existence today.

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

The rally on the 9th could have easily been a forgotten affair by now had Najib joined in and promised electoral reforms or merely allowed the rally.

You could not pay me enough to be in Najib's shoes right now. It must be totally shameful to be booed by one's own countrymen in a foreign country.

It must have been awkward meeting a yellow-clad Queen.

Then it all looked fine when he met the Pope.

But the embarrassment came from his own government this time, or rather his government mouth-piece - the rag called Utusan Malaysia.

There is no limit to Utusan Malaysia's ludicrous claims - you and I know that - but this one is a special little gem:

'When the drums are pounded hard in the name of human rights, the pro-Jewish people will have their best opportunity to interfere in any Islamic country. We might not realize that the enthusiasm to support actions such as demonstrations will cause us to help foreign groups succeed in their mission of controlling this country.'

Yep. When in doubt, always create a Jewish conspiracy.

This is not working to Najib's benefit though. I can imagine he might have been just a little mortified in the presence of people far more intelligent than his fellow UMNO goons.

It's too late now, but if only Najib had made wiser decisions prior to the rally, things would have been far different.

Sunday, 17 July 2011

In fact, someone even mentioned that the flowers in the background are also yellow in colour!

I can explain the flowers. It is most likely that the flowers would have been chosen to match the Queen's dress. There are in-house consultants for this sort of thing, as celebrities (especially Royals) thrive on a positive public image.

However, the dress is a little hard to explain. I am sure the Queen would have been briefed on the recent history and current events of Malaysia prior to Najib's visit.

For an impartial stand politically, I would have expected the Queen to have worn something other than yellow. More startling is the fact that the Queen tends to wear pastel colours, while this outfit is anything but.

It would actually have been polite to have removed anything remotely yellow if she was to be politically neutral.

Perhaps the Queen actually has an opinion on the state of democracy in this country.

When I volunteered to cover the Bersih 2.0 rally on the eve of the event, I felt an equal sense of excitement and trepidation.

I was excited because the rally has gathered a momentum not seen before, with increasing support from the public. But I was also fearful as certain quarters alluded to the possibility of rioting and mob violence.

The night before, I read up on the precautions and measures to take before going for the rally. I packed salt (which was easier to carry than toothpaste and cheaper), some Snickers bars, a towel, a water bottle and a change of clothes. I took note of what to do in case I was detained by the police.

I also deliberated on my choice of attire. I had to wear a neutral colour that did not link me to any particular movement or political party. So instead of red, yellow, blue, green or purple, I wore black.

We, the undersigned doctors, wish not to enter into the polemics of the Bersih 2.0 march on 9th July 2011 but would like to clarify the inconvenient truth.

We are outraged at the incidents, and the subsequent responses from the authorities, to the events where tear gas and chemical laced water were shot into the compounds of Tung Shin and Chinese Maternity Hospitals, two adjacent buildings along Jalan Pudu, Kuala Lumpur, with scant regard for the safety of patients, staff and the general public who were at the buildings that afternoon.

Hospitals are considered as safe sanctuaries for all, even during war times, but these consecrated places of refuge and protection were violated by the defence forces that afternoon. Police even entered the buildings in search of some of these peaceful marchers. What was most frightening and witnessed by many was the unprovoked violent assault within the hospital compounds and apprehension of several protesters who had merely run into the hospitals to seek shelter from the tear gas and the water cannons!

It is repulsive that the authorities entrusted with policing the nation and protecting the weak and needy, have shamelessly denied publicly, the occurrence of these incident IN SPITE of countless photo/video and eye witness accounts of what was evident to all independent observers.

A few of the undersigned were actually visiting or working in the hospitals concerned at the time of the events and will gladly provide sworn affidavits, if required, as to veracity of the incidents

The Malaysian public expect holders of high public office to honour their positions accorded by the citizens, by discharging their duties with moral integrity, dignity and transparency.

Their failure to do so raises the public's doubts in their competence and credibility as much as it demeans those high offices.

Based on the evidence of this weekend's rally in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysians aspire for a more competitive political system than what they have. Also based on this weekend's evidence, Prime Minister Najib Razak isn't prepared to give it to them.

An estimated 20,000 or more people peacefully gathered in Kuala Lumpur Saturday to call for free and fair elections. Their complaints included vote-rigging and gerrymandering of constituencies to the ruling party's benefit. Bersih 2.0, as the rally was called, was the biggest event of its kind in four years. The original Bersih (the word means "clean" in Malay) called for electoral reforms in 2007.

As with the original rally, this one was met not by understanding from the government but by police deploying tear gas and water cannons. More than 1,600 attendees were detained and released late Sunday. One demonstrator died from a heart attack.

Bloomberg warns of economic consequences to this sort of over-the-top government thuggery.

That thought is surely on Prime Minister Najib Razak’s mind as the dust settles from Saturday’s botched demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur. By “botched” I mean the way Najib mishandled what should have been a ho-hum political-reform rally of little note by the international news media.

Public-relations experts would have told Najib to let the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections have their day in the capital. Let them wave signs and wear their yellow shirts. Instead, he tried to stop the rally, increasing its size. Then, he cracked down. Police fired tear gas and detained 1,697 people, turning the event into a top cable TV news story.

The over-the-top response did something worse: It enraged Malaysians who weren’t all that interested in rallying before Saturday. It also underlined the rise in political risk sweeping Asia, something that investors would be wise to track.

Tuesday, 12 July 2011

I am shocked. A huge fraction of my politically apathetic friends have been converted to the right path ;-)

Now, these are the people who love saying that politics is dirty and that they'd prefer to stay as far away from it as possible.

Thanks to the roadblocks running up to the rally, Bersih 2.0 steering committee did not need to put out advertisements. The government did it on their behalf.

Tanks of petrol were consumed, legs were aching from alternating between clutch and accelerator, there was severe exhaustion, bad manners on the road - well, those have imprinted into the minds of the average citizen that there is something very rotten about the government.

Thanks to the roadblocks, I had a colleague ask me, "Bersih 2.0? What is it - an environmental effort?"

Never too late, I thought, before explaining exactly what the cause behind this rally was.

Suddenly, political awareness mushroomed like never before. No other rally had ever brought out this amount of interest.

This is by far the biggest rally I have ever attended - it attracted people from all walks of life.

Friday, 8 July 2011

"The opposition parties have jumped on this bandwagon because they would be direct beneficiaries of electoral reform," said Ibrahim Suffian, director of the Merdeka Center, an independent polling firm in Kuala Lumpur.

Describing Bersih's demands as "perfectly normal in terms of what's expected in a functional democracy," Mr. Ibrahim said that if large numbers of protesters turned out Saturday, it could slow the government's momentum after a recent series of by-election victories.

"I think that is the deeper concern: that a show of protest, a show of force by the opposition and NGOs demanding reforms from the government, could sway undecided people to feel that the government is not doing enough," he said.

Ong Kian Ming, a political analyst at UCSI University, said that the rally came at an "opportune time" for the opposition and that a violent crackdown on the protesters could be "a game changer" in the coming elections.

Malaysian police have said they will block access to the capital KualaLumpur for 24 hours because of a planned pro-electoral reform rally.Major roads will be shut and public transportation suspended frommidnight (1700 GMT).

Thursday, 7 July 2011

I have been publicising this Bersih 2.0 event since November 2010. Not for a moment did I expect that it would attract this level of heavy-handedness from the government.

A friend of mine who attended the first public event (the launch) organised by Bersih 2.0 was disappointed, saying that the demands were the same as with 2007 and the committee was too soft.

In many ways, I still feel the Bersih 2.0 steering committee is not aggressive enough for my liking.

I like Ambiga, I like Haris, and I like those guys and girls who are working hard to make this country a better place, but in my honest opinion, what we need is an arrogant a$$hole like Ibrahim Ali (but not as stupid) to lead this movement.

The government is obviously frightened by this force, but not frightened enough of the individuals. Heck, the government doesn't even have an ounce of respect for the YDP Agong - so on second thought, maybe there really is no hope for the government after all!

The village idiot whom some call the Home Minister of Malaysia, undertook it upon himself to shamelessly defend the cow-head protestors and even said that their voices need to be heard.

Suddenly, when it came to the issue of Free and Fair Elections - which is infinitely more important than the bimbo issue that the cow-head protestors were getting their polka-dot panties in a knot over - the heavy-handedness appeared.

Double standards? Hell yeah!

Words like "stubborn", "disobedient", and "uncooperative" are being thrown at the Bersih 2.0 steering committee by the authorities. This assault on our senses is perpetuated by the mainstream media which has been ordered to vilify the Bersih 2.0 rally.

The word "illegal" has been used so many times that I am tired of it. And even immune to it.

Even now, I just watched the news on TV. The sanctimonious little top cop said that the organisers of this "illegal" rally were so "degil" and "cuma nak lawan je".

Some don't even get the irony of their own words. The news presenter said, "... of the illegal rally by the Coalition for Free & Fair Elections..."

I wondered how free and fair could be illegal.

The possibility is that tomorrow and on Saturday, all internet and mobile communications will go dead. We won't be able to contact each other. This will make it difficult for us to gather and coordinate our movements.

But we need to fix that, and as the Bersih 2.0 steering committee say:

"Our first and foremost responsibility is to our future and our children, and we have resolved that they shall inherit a nation ruled by not by fear, but by the principles of justice.

Whatever happens between now and then, the rakyat will gather peacefully in an orderly fashion to call for clean and fair elections at Stadium Merdeka on the 9th of July at 2pm. We are coming, we will be peaceful and together, we will build a better Malaysia."

Wednesday, 6 July 2011

Bersih 2.0 has eight demands that ought to make elections fairer and more transparent, among them the use of indelible ink as well as the strengthening of public institutions and wiping out corruption. Clearly, the latter are aspirational demands and the former commonsense ones that the electoral commission could feasibly act upon without controversy.

The electoral commission chairman, Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof, however, has accused Bersih 2.0 and its chairman Ambiga Sreenevasan, a former Bar Council president, of being supported by opposition parties and thus being political.

The government is trying to hinder this rally as it is seen as an opposition ploy to undermine the government parties. Reactionary movements such as Perkasa, an NGO that aims to keep Malay special rights in Malaysia, are seizing on this and portraying Bersih in a racial (political) light. They claim the rally will cause chaos in Kuala Lumpur. Perkasa, with several other right-wing organisations, has called for an alternative demonstration to counteract the electoral reform push. Their posturing is meant to discourage Bersih marchers.

Why would anyone want to stop any movement toward electoral democracy and a transparent electoral process?

The main reason is that "clean" politics would diminish UMNO's stranglehold on federal parliament and the considerable government's coffers. Already, the government has responded with mass arrests, declaring Bersih 2.0 illegal.

In addition, Bersih is in effect telling the world the current Malaysian government is corrupt and that elections in Malaysia are corrupt. No government likes to hear this from their own citizens, and it will be instructive to see how the government responds to Bersih's demands. It has wielded the usual tactics of delay and containment, recently arresting key political figures in the campaign.

Tuesday, 5 July 2011

(Bangkok, June 30, 2011) – The Malaysian government should immediately end its crackdown on the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) and release everyone arbitrarily detained for involvement in its activities, Human Rights Watch said today. Police should return all Bersih-related materials confiscated during the past week and cease pursuing spurious criminal charges, including sedition and “waging war against the king,” against peaceful political activists, Human Rights Watch said.

On June 29, 2011, police raided Bersih’s office at the organization Empower, arresting seven people and confiscating computers, office equipment, Bersih literature, posters, and t-shirts. According to the inspector general of police, Tan Sri Ismail Omar, 101 people have been arrested on various charges in the past five days for promoting what he termed an “illegal assembly,” namely Bersih’s planned march in Kuala Lumpur on July 9.

“The Malaysian government’s crackdown on an electoral reform group shows utter disregard both for free expression and for the democratic process,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Governments that elected Malaysia to a second term on the UN Human Rights Council might feel duped.”

The Malaysian government, instead of responding substantively to Bersih’s eight-point electoral reform program, has begun an apparent campaign to discredit the coalition and to scare off Malaysians who had considered participating in the July 9 march.

With the Bersih 2.0 rally just around the corner, the authorities have launched a media campaign to label the rally as an illegal gathering to the extent that TV stations are required to submit daily reports detailing their news coverage on the rally.

Daily reports detailing their news coverage on the rally!!!

Forget other events that deserve the publicity - the BERSIH rally must be of top priority to be smeared.

Now this is ironic because Bernama almost NEVER reports any bit of news accurately, at least where politics is concerned.

And a priceless gem from the PM:

He said while the internet made it easier than ever to get a story out first, it also made it easier than ever for the readers to know of a journalist who did not get it right.

"It allows them to rapidly check facts, analyse claims and decide for themselves about the truth of the matter.

"And once your readers decide that your reporting is not accurate and cannot be trusted, you will find that they very quickly cease to be your readers at all," he said at the National Press Club (NPC)-Naza Awards 2011 here Monday night.

I guess they have already deduced why no one reads The Star and New Straits Times anymore :-)

I don't want to sidetrack from the main issue in these past few weeks, but I thought there may be some of you out there (especially those in Kuantan) who might be interested in this article from the New York Times.

But the construction and design may have serious flaws, according to the engineers, who also provided memos, e-mail messages and photos from Lynas and its contractors. The engineers said they felt a professional duty to voice their safety concerns, but insisted on anonymity to avoid the risk of becoming industry outcasts.

The problems they detail include structural cracks, air pockets and leaks in many of the concrete shells for 70 containment tanks, some of which are larger than double-decker buses. Ore mined deep in the Australian desert and shipped to Malaysia would be mixed with powerful acids to make a slightly radioactive slurry that would be pumped through the tanks, with operating temperatures of about 200 degrees Fahrenheit.

The engineers also say that almost all of the steel piping ordered for the plant is made from standard steel, which they describe as not suited for the corrosive, abrasive slurry. Rare earth refineries in other countries make heavy use of costlier stainless steel or steel piping with ceramic or rubber liners.